So I'm browsing YesAsia last weekend (and I placed an order for some Canto-pop DVD), when I decide to see what's up in the Japanese movie scene (since I haven't actually paid attention in several years). I know there's been a rash of sci-fi remakes of old kids series but... hmm...
Aside: last winter's remake Kamen Rider The First is now available via bit-torrent in a fairly hi-resolution DiVX format. The fan-subtitle project is #TV-Nihon (they're an IRC channel but you can google their torrent tracker if you want).
Anyway, a couple of years ago a remake of Ultraman was released. Yes yes, I'm talking about the big silver guy with the glowing egg-shaped eyes who fights rubber monsters (forget Power Rangers, this is the original!). Well, being that Ultraman Tiga in English died a miserable cancellation death on Fox, the franchise never returned to its 1970's syndication glory. And thus, this remake will never see the light of day in North America (at least outside of film festivals).
So what's a fan to do? Download it.
Yes, I downloaded it and then authored a DVD out of it. I decided that it was the lesser of two evils - the other choice is to pay a bootlegger for a pirate copy that will play in my Region 1 DVD player (an authentic copy from Japan is Region 2). It saddens me because the film had some really decent action scenes and they would've been great in full 5.1 Digital sound ...but thanks to the international consortium who decides to "protect" world-wide film distribution, I'll never be able to see it the way it was meant to be seen. *sigh*
Thursday, June 15, 2006
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